Disturbance
by changed currents
Summary: [post-apocalypse AU, sequel to Impossible Visions] Everyone who knew him mourns, and they all mourn in a different way.
1. Chapter 1

**I decided to elaborate on my oneshot** ** _Impossible Visions_** **and throw in bunches of chapters talking about how the death affected his comrades, friends, family, etc. You might notice some details that were not included in said oneshot, because (1) Ray's part wasn't supposed to be the main star of the show, and (2), I didn't elaborate much on what was happening in their minds/subconsciousness.**

 **The reason I'm not putting the name of who died is because you have to go read the mentioned oneshot above to get what I'm talking about. But you guys aren't gonna get to the...heavily impacted people until the end, which will be in like 4 chapters XD. So be patient!**

 **Many thanks to Writertainer, who helped kickstart this idea! DONJUSTICIA, GOOD LUCK WITH THIS!**

 **Also, I will refer to the dragons as "he" or "his", because I find them so humanlike and adorable.**

 **...Review!**

* * *

 ** _Part One: The Synchro_**

"Shh..." Crow soothed Tanner as the young boy yelped from the sting of the alcohol swab. "This'll make your cuts better. Trust me!"

"But it hurts so much!" complained Tanner as Crow swabbed the alcohol over his scraped knee and placed a bandage across the cut.

"Don't worry, you're all done, Tanner," Crow brushed off his hands and threw the cotton swab away. "Run along and go find Frank and Amanda. I have errands to run in Standard, so I'll be back in a couple days. Shinji and Chojiro will watch you guys."

"Chojiro!" Tanner exclaimed cheerfully. "He's coming!? Awesome, and be safe, Crow!"

"Yes, yes, I will, I promise. Now, be good, okay?" Crow patted Tanner on the boy's head. "I don't want to come home and find the house blown up. Amanda's in charge after Chojiro and Shinji, so you and Frank better listen to her, good?"

"Good!" Tanner cheered, locking his pinkie onto Crow's before dashing off, leaving the elder boy a bit startled and staring at his pinkie.

He let out a breathy laugh, before turning his attention back to the cell phone given to him by Reiji that's sitting so innocently on the scarred wood of their tabletop. Who knew that the slim metal device with the fancy touchscreen could be the bearer of such horrible news?

Crow had put two-and-two together and discovered that this was probably Rin and Yuugo had come back to Synchro a day after he had, both looking like their best friend had just died.

Because, a friend _had_ just died.

Tomorrow was his funeral.

He picked up the phone gingerly and shoved it into his back pocket, picking up his bag that was waiting by the front door and exiting their house. Despite receiving offers from the Lancers in Standard to move to their dimension, Crow had politely declined and instead decided to send the kids off to school there five days a week to learn basic life skills and dueling, with the help of Reiji's Dimension Mover machine installed into the basement.

Crow ran a hand through his hair before setting off on his way to Yuugo and Rin's new home. He was to pick them up and come back to the house to use the Dimension Mover, since Rin had flatly denied that "contraption" in her house. Yuugo, too stricken by the entire ordeal earlier, hadn't said a word.

Puffy white clouds danced their way across the azure sky, dotted by the platforms where the rich Tops lived. Crow had also denied living in the mansions up there, having already been gifted so much goods and technology from LEO Corporation that he didn't want to seem spoiled.

Speaking of technology, the metal device buzzed in his pocket.

Sighing, he pulled the phone out before checking the screen.

 _Jack Atlas: You're going to...his funeral, right?_

Crow's lips mashed together as he typed a text back, the on-screen keys far too tiny for his taste.

 _Crow Hogan: Yeah...I have to go pick up Rin and Yuugo first._

 _Jack Atlas: Okay._

Crow threw the phone back into his bag, along with his clothes, before setting off at a brisker pace. He hated that device, but simpler communication than pulling up a grainy call on his duel disk was better than nothing.

 _Yuuya..._

According to Reiji, the four boys had apparently been part of a demon/dragon/overlord that had once been human. A teenage boy, driven by humanity's greed for more flashy and exciting duels, had become a monster hell-bent on destroying the very people that had forced his dragons to fight against each other for entertainment. Forced to go beyond his limits, he'd gone insane with power and had had to be eradicated, or forcefully split into four souls.

This time, Yuuya had died making sure that the demon, Zarc, would never come back again. Fusing their souls together, then fusing once more with the spell cards held by the incarnation of Rin and her lookalikes, had destroyed Zarc's power-hungry mindscape and had reverted the demon back into a teenage boy for mere moments before disappearing.

Yuuya had destroyed Zarc's dark heart, and he had paid with his life.

Crow remembered the last time he'd dueled Yuuya, when the boy was halfway to insanity and beating him down with his Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon mercilessly. Then, Crow had wondered what had he done to deserve the boy's wrath, especially when they'd concocted an escape plan just minutes before the entire duel had started.

Now, Crow would give _anything_ just to duel Yuuya one last time, to get to say his goodbyes before the entertainer disappeared forever.

He squeezed his eyes shut and hoped, that wherever Yuuya was, he had found peace.

* * *

Jack Atlas stared up at the azure sky, on the balcony of his residence among the Tops.

It was only a few weeks ago had he dueled Sakaki Yuuya under the same beautiful skies and had relinquished his title as the King to the teenage boy, uniting the City and freeing it from discrimination.

It'd been only a few weeks since he'd been battling in the jungle of Academia's disgusting lab rat tests, since the last time he'd ever seen Sakaki Yuuya.

It was only a few weeks ago that he had bid goodbye to the remaining Lancers.

Jack pounded a fist into the railing of his balcony and shook his head, A-shaped earrings slapping his cheeks as he did. Yuuya just _couldn't_ be dead. The boy had been so filled with life, so cheerful, even when things were bleak and disturbing. He'd been the only cheerful one in Academia, the only one who could cling to his philosophy and not lose hope.

Yuuya was the glue that held the Lancers together. He was their common friend and ally, and the person they would always help, no matter their relationship or circumstance.

But if Yuuya wasn't gone, whose funeral was he going to in Standard now?

Frustrated, Jack spewed out a string of curses and turned his head back to stare at the Dimension Mover machine installed into his house, the sleek metal catching a ray of sunlight and reflecting it back. How Jack wished it wasn't today he would have to go through it, instead it would be when the reunion party of the Lancers would commence in some time.

But...the party would be just as dreary, without the presence of Sakaki Yuuya.

Jack gave one last glance up at the sky before peeling a card from the deck resting next to him and staring at it for the remainder of the time he had left before leaving.

It was a copy of Tuning Magician.

Even if he didn't want to admit it, Jack Atlas missed the entertainer from Standard already.

* * *

Rin sat on the brand-new couch next to her best friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yuugo, are you okay? Crow'll be here soon."

"I'm fine," came the muttered reply. Yuugo didn't even look at her, his turquoise eyes fixed on the floor as time ticked away in the deafening silence. His elbows were on his knees as he stared off at something she couldn't see.

"Yuugo-"

"I'm fine, Rin," Yuugo interrupted her, an undertone in his voice that pleaded for her to leave him alone.

Rin sighed and did as he had silently asked, ascending the steps to her room in a gloomy silence. Yuugo had been inconsolable ever since the day Yuuya had died, and Rin knew the boy was inwardly blaming himself like Yuuto and Yuuri probably were too. He ate his meals without the usual enthusiasm that was registered to Yuugo, and spent most of the day in his current position, sitting somewhere in their house and thinking.

Rin knew what it felt like to be as helpless as he had. She'd watched, from Ray's perspective inside her mind, as the female incarnation had been locked in a battle with her own feelings before finally watching Ray hand over the cards. Yuzu had been pounding on the invisible barriers of Ray's mind and sobbing, begging her friend not to do what he had been about to do.

Ruri and Serena hadn't said a word, their own eyes filling with horror as they watched the scene play out, Ray losing her consciousness as the final anguished scream of both Zarc and Yuuya had echoed around them.

A hard bump against her foot jolted her back into reality, and Rin rubbed her sore toe as she pushed the door open to her room. It was painted a similar shade of green to her hair, the bed rumpled in the corner and the small desk she often sat down at shoved against the far wall.

Her sketchbook was left open, pages filled with sketches from the days where she'd been drawing out D-Wheel parts for Yuugo's reference. Regretfully, Rin recalled when Yuugo had told her she had broken it under the control of the Doktor's hideous parasites.

She flipped a little further, and there were light, tentative sketches of Yuugo, Yuuya, Yuuto, and Yuuri together, the shadows and texture not yet added to make the drawing pop. Pens and markers, acquired with the exceptionally generous sum of money from Reiji, were in a box by the lamp, and Rin reached for them as her other hand flicked the lamp on.

With a careful hand, she began to trace the messy graphite sketch with a bold line of black ink.

 _Sakaki Yuuya..._

First was Yuugo, the smile she remembered so well immediately broadened with the black lines. His hair, the spikes she adored, and that wink she found so endearing were all sharpened.

 _I'm sorry that I never got to know you..._

Yuuto...the mysterious Xyz counterpart that Ruri adored, with his sharp grey eyes and mess of lavender-black hair that were his most noticeable features.

 _I've heard you were a caring and fun person..._

Yuuri, that psychotic smirk that she'd apparently captured perfectly, and those slit pupils she found slightly creepy, along with his floating bangs.

 _And..._

Her hand froze over Yuuya's sketched face, that frozen smile reminding her of the actual one. For a moment, her vision flashed white, and there he was, holding a hand out to her- no, _Ray -_ with that smile on his face.

Rin blinked, and it was gone.

 _...I'm sorry I didn't try to save you._

Her fingers wobbled as she finished the final stroke that completed his goggles, the sketched copy of the real ones that were now lying in his room back in Standard, lens cracked as they had found it.

 _Yuuya...I hope that you're not lonely, wherever you are._

"Rin."

Rin whirled around in her chair and found Yuugo, leaning against the door frame with puffy turquoise eyes, rumpled yellow bangs, and an expression that signified misery on his face.

"What are you drawing?" He took a step into the room, bare feet slapping against the cold wooden floorboards.

"N-nothing," Rin stuttered guiltily, flipping to another page of anatomy sketches to cover her drawing. "I was practicing human anatomy, and didn't hear you coming up the stairs. Do you need something?"

Yuugo stared at her, an expression she couldn't quite read in his eyes, before taking a couple more steps into her room and sitting down with his back resting on her bed's side. His feet sunk into the small furry carpet as he relaxed in the silence.

"Just companionship," he said quietly, lowering his turquoise eyes to the floor.

Rin exhaled as she turned back to her work, flipping the page once more to find her previous drawing. She absentmindedly pushed a lock of light green hair behind her ear as she worked, coloring in Yuuri's bangs with shades of magenta and mulberry.

Her phone (also from Reiji) buzzed, and the incoming text was from Crow:

 _Crow Hogan: I'll be late. Fifteen minutes. Sorry!_

Rin typed back a reply before scrolling through her downloaded playlist. Since discovering music, Rin had taken to the device to play calming sounds to rest her nerves. She still wasn't used to having so much money at her fingertips, and had donated some of it to the orphanage Yuugo and she had resided at before Rin's kidnapping.

A symphony of piano and violin music from the device's speaker swirled together as Rin selected another marker, a light grey, to add shadows onto Yuuri's strands of hair. Her elbow hit the edge of her desk as she did, and she dropped the uncapped marker in surprise.

Just before it could hit the ground, Yuugo's arm shot out and caught it. Turquoise eyes looked up innocently at Rin as Yuugo stood and walked over, placing the marker with a thump onto her desk before he froze.

Rin cursed silently. She hadn't flipped the page.

Yuugo's fingers brushed the carefully inked lines of Yuuya's face, tracing the boy's features as if he was actually there. A simple glance up at his face showed the tears running down his pale cheeks.

"Yuuya..." he whispered. "I'm sorry..."

* * *

Yuugo stared at the ground and wondered when had the entire fiasco gone wrong.

They'd been all holding back Zarc, keeping him from hurting any of their friends too severely, when Yuuya had suddenly shoved their barriers and assistance away, grabbed Zarc's soul, and fused his own it with it.

He'd gained control for those precious moments necessary to communicate with the girls' incarnation, the magenta/mulberry haired girl with the shining pink Duel Disk. But when Yuuto had tried to lend his strength, Yuuya forced him back.

 _This is an apology for involving you guys in all this,_ he'd whispered, that omnipresent smile now tinged with sadness. _I'll never forget any of you, I promise._

Yuuto had protested, Yuugo had protested, even _Yuuri_ had protested. But Yuuya's goal was to defeat Zarc without any more casualties.

Before he knew it, something tugged at his chest, right where his heart was, and he found himself being thrown roughly out of their combined body, his head striking the ground hard.

The last Yuugo had seen of Yuuya was the boy grappling against Zarc before his vision went white.

"Yuugo."

Rin's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Can you hand me that pan, please?"

"H-huh? Oh, sure, Rin." He absentmindedly picked up the round metal pan she gestured to and placed it in her flour-dusted hand.

Rin rolled out the pie crust on the counter and began mixing the filling for the pie itself, talking to him as she did. "Stop sulking around, Yuugo. If you can't lighten up a bit, go to your room and sulk there."

Her orange eyes were shadowed, hiding her emotions from Yuugo as he stood up and pushed the rickety wooden chair in. "Fine."

He slid across the wooden floor on socks and made his way upstairs, passing the door labeled _RIN'S ROOM_ before reaching his own. It was a plain white door, the knob made of some metal painted gold. Something he would've never been able to afford if he was still living on the streets.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the thought, Yuugo turned the knob and pushed the door open. His bed was unmade, sheets scattered all over the mattress. Dust swirled around the window as he opened the blinds to the metallic city of the Synchro dimension, and the sleek, glass-topped desk that he often sat and wrote at was littered with scraps of lined paper.

All of this had been generously bought and prepped by Reiji's company's workers. Yuugo wasn't a stranger to charity, but so much was unheard of among the poor Commons. The Tops citizens had been very selfish with their money and wealth, keeping it to their enjoyment. Only the select few that were actually philanthropists had stopped giving after their savings had been roughly depleted.

Yuugo pushed the door closed softly, the bolt sliding into place with a quiet click. Rin knew not to disturb him when his door was closed, and it was probably because of the attitude he'd held since Yuuya had died.

He clenched his hand into a fist, collapsing down on the floor with his head bent in a position many would find uncomfortable. Slowly, Yuugo picked his deck out from the pocket in the black Yuuto-style jacket he was wearing, and from within the cards, found his ace.

"Clear Wing..." his voice was a whisper barely louder than a cat's paws on hardwood floor. "...why?"

The dragon's soul, trapped inside the card, howled mournfully at the permanent loss of his favorite, beautiful master and child. Sure, he shared Yuugo's loss, but not in the same way his current master did. Zarc was gone forever, and Clear Wing was trapped in this world without him. What was there to live for?

Only Yuugo. Clear Wing would keep serving the boy that so resembled the carefree side of his former master, now gone, until the end of his days. The dragon would die for the boy, to keep his master's counterparts alive and smiling. It was what he lived for.

Yuugo's hand, holding the card, dropped to hang between his knees, and his head was bent so his bangs covered his dulled turquoise eyes as he cried, his shoulders shaking and the tears dripping onto the hardwood. Clear Wing continued his mournful howls as the two sat together, each grieving in their own fashion.

Even the smell of Rin's famous apple pie couldn't rouse the Synchro duelist as he slipped into a fitful sleep.

* * *

 **If Yuugo's too...ugh, for you guys...SORRY, I DON'T CARE!**

 **I chose this since Yuugo's the most emotional out of all the counterparts in my opinion. Yuuya, too, but...he's sorta dead in this AU, so...yeah.**

 **The next chapter should be up soon, since I'm feeling angsty...NO CLUES THOUGH!**

 **Review...?**


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapter...I really didn't like this one. At all. So it's short. Really, really short.**

 **Review...?**

 ** _Part Two: The Fusion_**

Shiun'in Sora licked a bright green lollipop with a hint of vengeance as he read the message from Yuzu. The bright blue case of his cell phone was very noticeable in his hand as he leaned against the brick wall of the old You Show Duel School's Fusion Dimension establishment, ignoring all the students that stared at him as they passed.

 _Hiiragi Yuzu: You're...coming, right?_

 _Shiun'in Sora: Obviously._

LEO Corporation's cell phones _did_ allow interdimensional texting, just not interdimensional phone calls. Parts of the Real Solid Vision's range system had been integrated into the metal devices to allow easier communication with long-distance, or in their case, different dimension-living people.

The little icon on the bottom of the screen that showed if someone was online or not, a picture of the girl that Yuuya had loved so much, faded and disappeared. Yuzu had probably just been checking, and had turned off her phone. That was usual. Yuzu didn't hold long, cheerful conversations anymore. Those exchanges had all but disappeared in the last few weeks.

Of course, Sora knew why.

He pushed himself off the wall and walked up the staircase leading to fresh air, still pointedly ignoring any looks thrown his way. Sora was used to looks, and the ones directed at his Academia-issued duel disk were quite often. Questions on why he was still wearing the shield-shaped device were even commoner.

Sunlight hit his face with vigor as he pushed the door open. The bright blue sky was dotted with wispy clouds, and the sun was a bright, burning ball of fire in the sky, so bright Sora held up an arm to shield his green eyes.

The only reason he was still wearing the disk, honestly, was because Reiji hadn't bothered to make another dimension-hopping Standard disk for him. Sora was quite annoyed, honestly, at the LEO Corporation's CEO at the moment.

They hadn't even bothered to go back for Akaba Leo's body, leaving the shattered, destroyed man's broken shell to natural decomposition on the abandoned Academia island. Not like Shiu'in Sora cared or anything.

The pineapple-haired boy leaned against the stone bridge's railing and gazed at the gondolas lazily weaving their ways up the crystalline water. They were so uninformed, unaware that the apocalypse had almost started only a few weeks ago.

Sora sighed and tossed the lollipop's soggy stick behind him, not caring where it went. Yes, he was a litterer. At the moment, Sora had more important things to think about.

His phone, still in his hand, buzzed.

It was a text from Serena.

 _Serena: Sora, have you left Fusion yet?_

 _Shiun'in Sora: Nope. I'm scheduled to leave tonight._

 _Serena: Oh, I guess Reiji can't handle too many interdimensional guests at one time. You're staying at the LEO Tower._

 _Shiun'in Sora: What about you?_

 _Serena: The Hiiragis'. The Sakakis' have the other three boys._

 _Shiun'in Sora: Okay. See you tonight._

 _Serena: Yeah._

Sora tucked the device back into his pocket. The cell phones were used very often, especially among the Synchro duelists, and Sora could receive up to twenty-five different texts from twenty-five different people in six hours. It was annoying, but one got used to it.

"C'mon, Yuuya," he said, speaking to the sky in an attempt at a lighthearted voice. "If you were still here, you would be amazed at these things!"

Passerby stared at him oddly, wondering why he was talking to himself, but Sora ignored it.

"They can talk to people across dimensions, and you can play all sorts of games on it! What would you download?" the boy continued, tears weaving their way down his cheeks. "I'm sure I know..."

His voice died mid-sentence, and his head dropped as the sunlight continued to reflect off the shimmering blue waves in the canal. The memory of their first ever duel, with Yuuya almost quitting when he'd lost his ace, seemed so long ago. His friend had come such a long way since then, and Sora had been looking forward to watching Yuuya advance in his career.

Now, that would never happen.

 _I'm sorry I can't uphold your philosophy, Yuuya, but it's too hard without you around to remind us of it._

* * *

Dennis Macfield was standing in the ruins of Academia's throne room, his bright orange hair the only thing not covered in dust in the decimated area. His clothes were streaked in mud and grime from the previous rainy day's remnants on the place, and the duel disk on his arm was the only thing that provided a suitable flashlight among the sunlight-blocked ruins.

He kept his gaze away from the decomposing body of Akaba Leo, and instead picked his way to the only place that allowed sunlight through. Blood still stained the unwashed floor, and the strong smell of rot pierced the air. But Dennis knew what had happened in that spot.

He sighed and sat down, his back resting against the pieces of fallen ceiling. Black ash littered the space, and there were faint traces of it on the shattered stone Dennis was leaning on.

Dennis's former comrade had died here, and he was useless inside a card all the while.

As a veteran Fusion child soldier, Dennis never cried at someone's death. He'd seen so much of it, it wasn't a surprise anymore.

But Yuuya had died thinking he was a traitor, a Lancer that wasn't a Lancer. An undercover spy for Academia. An fake of a person that could've been. _Someone who hadn't been his friend all along._

 _That_ was what hurt the most.

Dennis sighed, swallowing a sob, and stared up at the ceiling, following the cracks with his eyes. It was a spiderweb, yet somehow holding its place. Shimmering gold dust was settled in the cracks, and as Dennis watched, the dust never stopped glowing.

Was that holding the ceiling together?

Possibly.

 _Black destroys, gold restores._

The stone he was leaning on crumbled, sending jagged pieces into his back as he fell onto the shattered rock.

Dennis let out a muffled curse, which was pretty common across dimensions these days, as he stood and headed out of the room, still ignoring Akaba Leo's decomposing body. It was disgusting, anyways. Who wanted to see someone's dead body?

Adding humor into the situation wasn't going to help, Dennis decided. There was no humor about the death of a friend, someone that may have not considered him a friend, but he still counted as a friend.

He turned back one last time, sunlight still dancing across the place that Sakaki Yuuya had died. Slowly, he dropped his duel disk and deck on the ground, the duel disk's control orb shattering upon impact. The cards of his deck spilled across the stones, and Dennis glanced at the Entermages' colorful pictures. Entertainment dueling was for Yuuya, the entire Entermate/Entermage archetype was for Yuuya. He would start his own deck over again, get a new duel disk.

After all, he wasn't going to steal Yuuya's legacy. If someone wanted those cards to bury him with, Dennis would come back and pick them up. But for now, he would leave them, at the last earthly place Sakaki Yuuya had ever visited.

"Gomen'nasai, Yuuya."

Then he disappeared into the crumbling shadows.

* * *

Tick.

 _Ding!_

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. Send.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

 _Ding!_

Serena picked up the phone in a huff and checked the text from Sora.

 _Shiun'in Sora: Okay. See you tonight._

 _Serena: Yeah._

Frustrated, Serena slammed her fist down, the plaster on the wall next to her bed crumbling as the pencil she was writing with jumped and settled back down.

The faint sound of feet on the stairs, along with the telltale creak. Serena froze, not a single muscle moving, until a familiar voice spoke. Those Academia instincts, still drilled right down to the bones.

"Serena? Are you okay?" It was Shuzo Hiiragi, his voice timid and unsure. She couldn't blame him. He'd welcomed Yuzu home only to learn about how her best friend had died, and was now dealing with three emotional girls and an overprotective, also grief-stricken brother in his house.

"I'm fine, thanks, Mr. Hiiragi," Serena answered, slowly removing her fist from the desktop. "Sorry for disturbing you."

"It's okay," Shuzo said, the sound of his feet pattering down the hallway fading to nothing.

Serena sighed and got up from the small chair, flopping down on her bed instead. The room was as plain as her former Academia one, with white cotton sheets and a single, feather-filled pillow. A small desk was pushed into a corner, and the only light came from a window and two lamps.

The setting was fine with Serena. She didn't need much, nor ask for much. If she had a roof above her head and food on the table, Serena was satisfied. She couldn't ask for more, especially when all she had had to rely on was charity all her life.

The counterpart boys, Zarc's _remaining_ pieces, were staying at the Sakakis' house. Serena wondered how the mother dealt with three boys that looked almost exactly like her deceased son, when she knew her own boy wasn't coming back ever again.

Yoko Sakaki had a strong soul. Just like Yuuya.

That brought back a fresh wave of memories, something that Serena neither wanted or needed at the particular moment.

Serena shook her head. None of them should've let Yuuya die to take down Zarc. She knew that they should've never let Yuuya go through with that insane, suicidal plan, and should've instead found another way.

But inside Ray, Serena knew there wouldn't have been another way.

She kicked her feet into the air in a halfhearted attempt on getting up and finding Yuzu, but they instead plunged to the ground with a painful thump. The force shook her legs and rattled her bones as she lay there, temporarily stunned, before shaking off the feeling. Still wasn't worse than nerve gas.

"YUUYA!" Serena yelled, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. "GET BACK HERE...and stop making us all...so...miserable..."

Her voice drifted off into a small sob. "...it's not the same...without...you..."

"...the Lancers...aren't...complete without...you...Yuuya..."

Serena sniffed and wiped away her tears with the cotton cover, the wet spots glistening and dyeing the sheets grey. Breaking down was foreign to her in Academia, but here she was, crying her eyes out in a bedroom dimensions away from her former home.

Slowly, she pushed herself up from the bed and walked over to the desk, picking up a pen. If she couldn't get her thoughts out with vocal speech, she would get them out by writing them down.

Pressing the nib down to the paper, she began to write from when Serena first met Sakaki Yuuya.

* * *

Yuuri set his fork down and picked up the now empty plate, casting his eyes away from everyone else's as he stood. "Thank you, Yoko-san, for the excellent meal. Now, if it is alright with you, I'll retire to bed for the night."

"Are you sure?" Sakaki Yoko's voice was hinted with worry. "You might need some more food..." her voice trailed off as Yuuri shook his head politely, carried his plate to the sink, and disappeared into the hallway outside the dining room, leaving Yuuto, Yuugo, and Yoko to finish the rest of their meal.

Yuuri still wasn't used to constant comfort, or someone actually caring for him. In Academia, it had been a try-for-the-top environment, students using whatever methods to get cozy with the commanders or the Professor himself. Day and night, someone with the status that Yuuri had held had to be on guard. If anyone let their guard down in Academia, someone else was sure to pounce.

Slowly, Yuuri climbed the stairs to the second floor and turned into the guest room he was sleeping in. Yuuto and Yuugo both didn't trust him enough, so they bunked together. Which was fine with Yuuri. No matter how much he might've changed, he'd done what he'd done before.

Not that Yuuri could blame Yuuto or Yuugo.

Before he reached the guest room he was staying in (Yuuri wasn't about to call it _his_ room, necessarily), another door drew his attention. It was the same color as any other door in the house, the only difference being it had a sign on it, and was shut tight.

 _Yuuya's Room!_

Exhaling sharply, Yuuri's fingers went up to brush the name written neatly on the sign. 榊遊矢. _Sakaki Yuuya._

This was his room. He'd lived in here, slept in here, breathed in here, for most of the fourteen years of his too short life. _This was his real home._

Slowly, after checking that no one was watching, Yuuri placed a hand carefully on the knob and turned, pushing the door open.

It was a small room, with a round rug thrown next to the bed, a cabinet of drawers next to it. Windows let bits of moonlight into the otherwise abandoned space, and a fine layer of dust covered any available surface.

Yoko obviously couldn't brave the sorrow that came with venturing inside, and had left the place untouched. Covers still thrown haphazardly around the mattress, striped green-and-white pajamas deposited on the floor. And a picture frame, placed carefully on the bedside table.

As to not disturb anything, Yuuri crept across the room and picked up the frame, swiping his thumb across the layer of dust coating it, and froze.

It was a picture of a smaller Yuuya, squished in between his parents with a big, innocent grin on his face. His father had a jaunty wink on his face, holding his arm out to hold the camera. His mother had an arm wrapped around her son and a peace sign held near her face.

A happy family, broken apart. Yusho had moved temporarily to the Xyz Dimension to held fix up the remnants of Academia's invasion, Yoko was here in Standard caring for three boys, and Yuuya...was dead.

Yuuri heard the faintest sound of scuffling downstairs, and quickly shoved the frame into his jacket pocket, tiptoed back across the room, carefully closed the door, and ran to the other guest room just as the top of Yuuto's bangs peeked over the top stair.

He eased the door open, dashed in, and slammed it shut behind him.

"Yuuri?" Yuuto's slightly hesitant voice came. "You okay?"

He didn't reply, instead slipped down to a sitting position, with his back on the door, and stared at the picture again. Yuuri had played a part in tearing this happy family apart, and now, he felt sorry that he had _ever_ walked into Sakaki Yuuya's life.

On the desk in the room, his deck began glowing purple, and Yuuri could faintly hear the sound of Starve Venom's mournful howls. Howls meant to mourn Zarc, the master he'd loved so much that was gone forever. Howls that reached and matched Clear Wing's from another dimension.

"Yuuya..." Yuuri placed the frame carefully on his desk, having pushed himself up from the ground.

"...I was the cause of all your misery, from carding your father to purposefully losing to you, and so, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

Yuuto and Yuugo, when they entered the room to tell Yuuri to shower, found their Fusion counterpart collapsed on his bed with only his boots and jacket off, the sheets still wet with tears.

* * *

 **I could not think of scenes for this...so if this is bad, you'll know why. Ugh. I'll be out of town starting tomorrow and coming back after Christmas, so expect no updates from me for any stories...unless I really want to publish something.**

 **...review..?**


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